North Brookfield United Baptist Church

North Brookfield United Baptist Church

North Brookfield United Baptist Church

Lunenburg-Queens Association

Nova Scotia

Queens County

1631 Hwy 208, North Brookfield, NS

Active

Built circa 1905

In 1798, Williamsburg moved from Port Medway and settled in the northern part of Queens County. Others followed this pioneer until, by 1808, their numbers had grown to the point where their religious interest was finding expression in meetings held in people’s homes. Into the situation came Reverend T. H. Chipman, a Baptist pastor from the Annapolis Valley. He spent some time in the North Queens area, preaching and baptizing people from the community. However, there was a little further interest shown until 1821 when William Ashley, an American, came to the district and formed an organization called the New Christian Church. Three years later, another attempt, equally unsuccessful, was made to establish a church, this time under the Free Baptist auspices. Finally, in 1828, the first permanent organization was established, the North Brookfield Baptist Church, which still exists to present day (2021). In that same year, Reverend Thomas Ainsley visited the place, helping to establish a church structure. In 1856, under the leadership of James Barss, the church was divided to form a separate body at Caledonia. Thereafter Brookfield and Pleasant River constituted the pastorate. The original church is no longer standing, and on a spot down closer to the road the current structure was built around the turn of the twentieth century. This church has a three-bay façade, with an open cage belltower on the top of the steeple. On each side of the steeple there is a large gothic window, mimicking the three same windows located on either side of the building. This church belongs to a combined pastorate including six other churches called the “North Queens United Baptist Pastorate”; churches in this pastorate rotate Sunday services each week. A pastorate service of worship is scheduled to be held each Sunday in one of the seven church buildings.

Information provided by the church and M. Allen Gibson, “Churches by the Sea," Chronicle Herald, November 15, 1986.